Assessed & Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)

The ASYE is a year long programme and is offered to Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW’s) who are within two years of qualifying. It is designed to support NQSW’s to develop their capability and strengthen their professional confidence once into their first Social Work role.

Cambridgeshire is committed to investing in the development of this programme and works to ensure that NQSW’s are provided with dedicated time to learn and develop their practice through a range of training and development opportunities.

For 2017/18 the programme will continue to be delivered through a combination of training, individual and group support to our Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW’s).

ASYE - Who is it for?

The ASYE programme is mandatory for all new Social Work Qualified Cambridgeshire County Council appointees who have recently qualified as social workers within a Social Work role.

• NQSW’s who are within the first year of qualification will be offered the full training and support programme • NQSW’s who qualified before starting their present employment from 13 months post-qualifying and no later than 23 months at employment start date, will be offered the assessment and support route to completing the year. • Social workers who qualified over 2 years but have not previously secured a social worker post can also be considered for training and support through an individual development programme. They would need to demonstrate that they have maintained their skill base and had undertaken social work tasks.

Development and Support during the year

NQSW’s are given 20 days protected training and development time, which consists of: 10 days - Training programme 5 days - For training which needs to be agreed on an individual basis with the line manager as part of the professional development plan (PDP) 5 days – For preparation of the portfolio and the Reflective logs

The ASYE Training Programme

The ASYE training programme is a mandatory requirement as the sessions are designed to encourage networking across the directorates and facilitate good cross organisational relationships, where candidates can learn about other service areas in Cambridgeshire. There are 10 structured training days which are mainly on the first Tuesday of each month between October 2017 and July 2018 and candidates are expected to attend all training dates. We offer a rolling programme and candidates may join at any point in the year dependent on numbers. There are formal training sessions in the mornings which will be led by Lecturers from Anglia Ruskin University and provides a unique opportunity to link teaching and research to practice.

Action Learning Sets

The afternoon sessions are taken up with Action Learning Sets which provide an opportunity for candidates to: • Learn to manage complex leadership, interpersonal and organisational problems which cannot easily be resolved through supervision. • Reflect on a work based issue and formulate clear actions and decisions with the aim of taking these back to their team and make changes. • Focus on self-identified problems and areas of interest or self-development. The Action Learning Sets are facilitated by members of the Social Work Development Team and candidates can join these at set points of the programme.

Process of Assessment through the Year

It is important that NQSW’s and their Assessor complete the Knowledge and Skills self-assessment tool as part of their induction period. This will support identification of strengths and development needs under each of the knowledge and skills statements. This will also aid the creation of the initial professional development plan which identifies your learning objectives and can be used as a tool through the year to track your progress. The Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE) formally starts with the Support and Assessment Agreement Meeting. In order to arrange this, candidates must have received their HCPC registration number and complete the registration form, which needs to be emailed to asye@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Candidates and Assessors complete reviews of progress throughout the year, the NQSW will write reflective logs and the Assessor or designate will do observations of practice and write a final report. Collecting feedback from service users and other professionals is another element of the programme.